The Mystery of Emotions
by CassieRichelle
Summary: Jack starts his senior year,but the girl he wants wont come near him. He can tell she wants him from the passion in her kiss,but why won't she accept him?Soon things uncover themselves, but will that change her cold exterior? r/r please!rated t for now.
1. First day of school pains

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Four Brothers movie, but I do own all my characters.**

Staring at the ceiling, Jack tossed around on the mattress as he tried to get some sleep. The days events were glued into his thoughts, and not allowing him any measure of peace. It hadn't been bad ... well, not as bad as it could have been. Bobby had lost his temper with some newbie during one of their hockey games, and, well, did what everyone expected. He threw the first punch, but the kid never retaliated. After the game, while they had all been watching a bad horror flick, there had been a crisp knock on the door. The pussy had pressed charges for domesticated violence, and Bobby had gotten his ass landed in jail.

Normally, he would have been out by now, but this had been the third time this month, therefore they had decided to let him stay the night in his cozy cell. Jack found it funny as hell, though he knew he'd regret it later. Bobby would be the one giving him a lift to school, so if he got real pissed, Jack had no doubt he'd be stuck on the bus the following morning.

It would be the first day of his senior year, though he should have graduated last year. Due to past problems, he hadn't done really well in school and had felled the first grade. As his thoughts wondered off of Bobby and on to the possible events of the coming day, he soon drifted to sleep, the familiar lectures he had been reciting in his head working better than any lullaby.

xxxXxxx

His senses muffled, it took Jack a while longer than usual for Angels call to slip through his fog shrouded thoughts."Jack?! What the hell you doing man? Get your ass up, you don't wanna miss the first day of school," came yet another chorus of jabs from downstairs.

Bleary eyed, he looked at his clock. "Holy shit!" Why hadn't they got him up earlier?! School started in fifteen fucking minutes! Hopping up from the bed and jumping around the room, Jack hurried to get ready. Pulling his shirt over his head as he jogged down the stairs, he let out a string of colorful curses. Barely pulling on his shoes, Jack ran out the door and onto the side walk just as the bus passed. "Aww shit. What the hell." He started running down the street, hoping to catch the bus at it's next stop, but found the chore harder than expected because of his smokers lungs.

Watching in amazement as the bus slowed to a stop, he didn't see the reason until it was too late. He plowed right into the girl, knocking them both to the ground. As he got up, his aqua orbs met jade green ones. It took him a while to realize that they weren't very happy eyes though. As he finally looked away he saw papers scattered everywhere. As he turned back to the girl, she had done gotten to her feet and was gathering the papers into a neat stack.

"Hey, fairy, get your lame ass in the car!" Jack turned to see Bobby pull up behind the bus. Even though he was pissed about the fairy thing, he had his mind on the girl. As he turned to offer his help, he found nothing, but saw a wisp of blonde hair as she disappeared into the bus. Sighing, he slipped into the car, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of insults that was bound to come.

xxxXxxx

As Clara plopped on a seat of the bus, she winced at the action. Her butt was taking a severe beating, not only because of how hard she hit the concrete, but also because that had been the second time that morning. Sighing as she finally admitted to herself that she might not be as light on her feet as she wished, she began to shove the disorganized papers into her black messenger bag. Not only had she made a fool of herself in front of the mass of students, but she had been nearly late to the bus. For her, she couldn't decide which was worse.

Sitting forward in her seat, the bus pulled to a stop in front of the school. _Well, time to get this over with i suppose,_ she thought to herself. Joining the line of people to get off the bus, she stiffened her spine as she felt someone lean into her."Hey babe, couldn't help but notice that you must be new. Care to give your name?"

"Not really thank you," she said curtly, annoyed with the boy. "Come on what's it gonna hurt," he tried in a seducive tone, wrapping one arm around her waist. Yanking free, she took her chance to run and fled.

As she sprinted into the building, she was momentarily stunned by the blast of cold air. Summer was lingering this year, so she had been in the hot, sticky humid for a while. Overcoming her shock, she made her way to a bulletin with a mass of students already crowding around. Finding her name, she went to her locker to pick up her schedule. First hour, flag, football field. Hmm.. that shouldn't be too hard to miss, she thought, taking her eyes off the paper, not wanting another bruise on her rump.

xxxXxxx

Wham!!! The sound seemed to eco in her head as she rubbed her temple. That was the fourth time she had managed to wack herself in the head and twice in the foot, but still she couldn't get the elaborate move. "Suck it up princess, we don't have time for you to fool around," was the only remark made by the captain,Melissa. Clare had immediately disliked the girl, thinking her to be a spoiled daddy's girl as well as a slut, and both guesses had been correct. She hadn't stopped flirting with any guy that would watch for the entire 45 minutes.

Untwisting the silk, Clare threw a quick pop, then headed to the changing rooms. The only good thing about having a sports activity at the beginning of the day was that she didn't break a sweat too easily. As she climbed into the hot shower she waited for her muscles to relax before coming back out. As soon as she was dressed, she grabbed her bag and left just as the rest started to file in. As she made it out the doors, she thought she did good in her escape, but, soon realized that had been a faux realization.

She groaned as she made contact with the floor yet again. "Was that you? Oh I'm sooo sorry," Melissa stated, her voice dripping with scarism. When Clare opened her mouth to retort, she found her view was suddenly filled with Melissa, and her nose of expensive perfume.

"If you ever try to take my guy by that lame trick like you did earlier, or any other for that matter, you will be sorry," warm breath circled her ear as those words were said. Flipping her long black hair, she disappeared into the shower rooms as Clara sat there confused.

**Authors Note: we all know how much you wanna press the pretty review button, so please do! Constructive critizem is welcomed!!!**


	2. Dance with the devil

**Disclaimer: I do not own Four Brothers or any characters from the movie. I do however own all my characters, so please dont steal. Enjoy! ^.^**

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xxxXxxx

Jack stared at the figures on the paper, willing them to make sense. The first day of school and he had gotten homework in his pre-cal class. Math had never been his best subject, which was why he avoided any of the extra classes like the plague. With a frustrated sigh, he slammed back into his chair deciding this class was screwed up and he would be skipping the rest of the year. At that moment the warning bell rang.

The hallways were crowded, but Jack hardly noticed. Thanks to his brothers and their reps, the entire student body gave him a wide berth. Well, except for the blonde who wasn't paying any attention and nearly walked right into him. He wondered at the purple and blue streaks in her hair, but it was her eyes that shocked him the most. They were a light shade of green, and at the moment looked sleepy.

After she had passed Jack realized who she was. Whipping around, the looked for the odd mixture of hair color in the crowd, but she had disappeared.

"What the hell," was his statement as the tardy bell rang. He might as well go get a smoke, he really needed one at the moment.

xxxXxxx

Clara's history class had been awful. All the teacher did was talk, and talk, and talk. That was some weird potion for her, she could never remain conscious when she had nothing to do. Sure, she was supposed to take notes, but that made her hand cramp, so there really was no point.

In the end, she wound up with detention, so she decided to skip. What was the worst they could do? Give her detention? Hah! You'd think that the administration spent all their time coming up with ways to make the student population miserable, but evidently not.

She then made her way out of an convient side door and headed around the building, avoiding the cameras.

In her attempt to escape the video recording, she didn't notice when she stepped on someones foot, but did when they snaked an arm around her waist and a hand over her mouth. She couldn't help but gag a little when the person spoke, for their breath was so heavily laced with achaol.

"Well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a little rebel. Why don't you say we do something else a bit rebellious, huh?" And with that he was on top of her, the equivalent of wild fire on a decayed forest.

The hand was suddenly replaced by a mouth, and Clara made the mistake of trying to scream, which only resulted in a tongue being shoved into her mouth. At first she acted as though a doe caught in the head lights and froze, but then the reality of it all settled in and she started to struggle.

She bit his tongue kicked where the sun don't shine all at the same time, causing her attacker to fall. Fleeing gleefully from his grasp, she only noticed he still had a hold of her when she was half way to the ground. Letting out a small yelp of surprise, she hit the ground hard not thinking to try to break her fall.

"Get over hear bitch, you gonna pay for that," was all her attacker slurred, and she chose then to see who it was. Eyes widening in revulsion and astonishment, she saw that it was the boy that had made a move on the bus. Before she had time to think any more, he hit her, hard enough to see fuzzes.

Blinking slowly in surprise, she only noticed there had been any extra weight when instead not just one, but two figures rolled off of her.

xxxXxxx

When Jack had first heard the noises he had brushed them off as someone else skipping and probably eaither getting drunk or high. Shoving all this from his mind, he let his thoughts wonder to the blonde he had run in to this morning and nearly in the halls. He didn't know what pulled him to her, but something did. Not sure he liked it, he had tried to ignore it, but that was pretty much hopless.

Sighing, he flicked the butt of his ciggrette to the concrete and scuffed it with the toe of his boot. He was very seriously debating on another one, and had just been reaching for the pack when he heard a very pain filled groan.

Figureing Scotts girlfriend had gotten mad and kicked him in the nuts, he chuckled. They were always fighting. Picturing the poor guys face, his good time was cut short by the shriek that almost immeaditly followed. He frowned, knowing Scott never did anything to wrench a sound like that out of Keria, no matter what she did, he jogged around the building to investigate.

The moment he rounded the cornor, he found the source of the sound. He had gotten there just in time to see Jacob hit the new girl.

For some unfathomable reason, Jack suddenly saw red and rushed head first at Jacob, forgetting that that was one of the most dangerous things he could do.

He knew automatically when they were off Clara, and that was when he lost it and let his fists fly.

After about the first three seconds Jack regained some of his cool and started to aim deadly blows at the fuckers face and chest. Soon he felt the body beneath him untence and the small jabs landed aimlessly at him ended.

Though Jacob was obvisouly unconsice, Jack couldn't stop until he felt a soft, cold hand on his raised fist.

Glancing behind him in a way that let anyone who tried to stop him know they were next, he was suprised to see the face of his mystery girl, tear stained as it was, return his glare even as she took a few cautious steps back.

_Awww fuck it all _were the only thoughts that ran through Jacks mind as he stood, keeping his hands in mid air and unfisted, to look fully at the damage done.

"Are you okay?"

xxxXxxx

_Damn,_Clara thought,_ his voice is really deep...and sexy._ Suprising herself with her own thoughts, it took her a while to answer, making her rescuers face go from concerned to slightly annoyed.

"Well, are you okay? Nodding your head works too, if you can't speak that is," though his words should have annoyed her, they instead sent a shiver down her spine, causing a complete attitude change.

"Why the hell do you care?"

"Maybe because it looks as though you were about to be raped."

She sighed. Unfortunetly he was right. _Well, from one backwards ass town to another I suppose._

"I-I'm fine. ...Thanks."

Feeling her cheeks heat up, Clara decided it was time to make her escape.

Turning to leave, she froze at his next words, and slowly turned.

"What, your knight in shining armor doesn't get a kiss for saving a dasmel in distress?"

The only thing that could have made that phrase worse was exactly what happend next. He sent her a very annoying smirk.

So, she gave him her sweetest smile and replied with a sickly sweet "Sure," Which he returned with a supirsed look, then a smile that was nothing but pure male arrogance.

She walked toward him swaying her hips slightly with the movement. When she got to him, she stood on her tip toes, and just when their lips were about to meet, she socked him as hard as she could in the gut.

"What the hell was that for," was all he had managed to gasp.

Stooping to his level, she bent close and said quiet frankly, "Do you really think I'd want to be part of any kind of kissing after **that**?"

"Act-," but his reply was cut short by her glare. "Fine, fine, have it your way, but can I at least know your name?"

Quickly playing ene mene minie moe in her head, and making a face at what it landed on, her swift and curt reply was "Clara."

With that, she turned and walked away, needing desperately to find a rest room to cover any damage.

xxxXxxx

_God what a shitty day,_ were Jacks only thoughts as he flopped on his bed. After the incounter with Clara and Jacob, she wouldn't leave his thoughts. He hadn't seen her at all since then, mostly because he had been in the office all day explaining his side of the story while she had been in an different room. The only good that had come of this was that he had learned that she had a dentention moved to tommrrow, so he could easily be spending an hour with her so himself. Grinning at the thought, he bounded down stairs as his stomach grumbled.

He was only slightly courious when he heard the door close, so he didn't bother pulling his head out of the fridge.

"Oh Jackie, get out of the fridge will you? I don't want you to spoil your dinner."

"But Ma you always let me have a snack."

She gave him a knowing smile, but still shut the door on her way by.

"I know, but we have new neighbors who've invited us out to eat in about 30 minutes, and I wouldn't want to seem rude when none of us are hungry."

He had stopped listening after the word neighbors.

"New neighbors? When did they get here?"

"Umm... last week I believe."

"Any kids," was his response to this, his thoughts gushing back to Clara.

"Yes, actually they do. A daughter, your age if I'm correct."

When he didn't reply, Evelyn looked at her youngest son.

"Is something the matter?"

"Wa-huh? Oh, no, nothings wrong." Before she could say anything else, Jack wrapped her in a tight hug, gave her a peck on the head and dashed up stairs to shower.

xxxXxxx

Clara looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. This was more like it. Her style was very wierd to say the least. She wasn't goth or emo or any other catageory you could place her in, she simply belonged to herself. They were going out to eat tonite, so she had dressed for the occasion. Why not make a stunning first impression afterall?

She again looked in the full lenght mirror. Black, chunky flip flops graced her feet, though you couldn't see much since her shreaded jeans were too long. Next was her new tank, blue with Evanescence scrawled across the chest. Her eyes weren't their normal green. Instead they were slit like a lizards with a blue and red criss cross pattern to the side. Her hair was down, with a new streak of black in the bangs.

_This ought to scare away anyone else who would otherwise try to attach themselves _was all she thought about it. She hadn't even needed this at her old school, which was why all the attention here in Detroit shocked her so much.

Taking a calming breath, she decended the stairs until she went past the bathroom, which was when she remembered her makeup. A bit of eyeliner and gloss and she was done. When she neared the end of the stairs, she heard her parents talking to who she assumed were their new neighbors. Letting her eyes bore into the floor, she was mortified to find herself being caught from another landing on her rump.

"Well hello there nieghbor," the voice made her lood up. _Dear God, just let me die,_ was the thought that crossed her mind as she looked into the amazingly blue eyes of her two time rescuer, Jack Mercer.

"Well, this is a new look," he said with a chuckle. Tonite definitely wasn't going to go as planned.

xxxXxxx

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**What will happen during dinner? Will they find friendship and more, or annoyance and distrust? . anyways, please, please, please be a dear and review! and let me know of anything you'd want added to the story,(ideas, discriptions, ect.)**


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